Nurse species facilitate persistence of dry forests in agricultural landscapes in Uruguay

Inofuentes, Paola Pozo; Säumel, Ina

doi:10.1111/jvs.13127

Cited by 4 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 119 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Then, it is evident that the frequent positively associated species in the western range correspond all to species from sclerophyllous forest. In addition, the results of our study align with previous findings in the eastern range, such as those in Córdoba province (Torres et al, 2021) and at the Paraná River mouth (Pozo Inofuentes & Säumel, 2022),…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

“…For the ‘outside’ plots, we included open (bare, non‐vegetated) areas, as well as vegetated (herbs, shrubs or sometimes even trees) areas, as long as there was no V. caven present inside the plot (Figure S2). Hence, we avoided bias by only selecting open/bare areas for the plant–plant interaction contrast, and also to allow comparison with other studies that compared nurse effects of V. caven with other shrub and tree species (Pozo Inofuentes & Säumel, 2022; Root‐Bernstein et al., 2017; Torres et al., 2021). Depending on the area of the study site, we sampled between 10 and 15 pairs per site (Figure 1; each underneath vs. outside contrast), with the exception of one site where we only sampled seven pairs (i.e.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, the regeneration of several tree species was higher under V. caven than under other legume species from a subtropical grassland (Pozo Inofuentes & Säumel, 2022). These local antecedents in contrasting ecosystems offer a unique opportunity to assess how the effect of V. caven as a specific nurse plant is modulated by ecological drivers at a very large spatial scale.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Large‐scale facilitative effects for a single nurse shrub: Impact of the rainfall gradient, plant community and distribution across a geographical barrier

Velasco,

Soto‐Agurto,

Carbone

et al. 2024

Journal of Ecology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Importance of nurse plants structuring plant communities is well‐appreciated at local scales, yet the effect of a single nurse on large scales has been neglected in analyses. So far, studies only use environmental gradients within one type of ecosystem and tend to generalize the nurse effects. To assess how the effect of a single nurse species is modulated by different environmental settings, interactions between the shrub Vachellia caven and the surrounding plant communities were evaluated at 481 paired plots (outside vs. underneath the plant crown), in 39 sites across two distribution ranges, the Mediterranean west and the mostly subtropical east of the Andes Mountains (covering ca. 2 × 106 km2). Cover, abundance and richness of perennial plants underneath and outside V. caven were used as response variables to estimate an index indicative of plant interactions (relative interaction index [RII]) and tested how this was affected by the rainfall gradient and distribution range. Overall, RII responses to rainfall gradients had low conditional R2 (~0.25) in this large scale of analysis, but were significantly different between ranges: the RII followed a quadratic trend across the rainfall gradient in the western range, while this relationship was positive and close to linear at the eastern range. Then, by projecting the RII models (i.e. for abundance, cover and richness) spatially through a consensus map, we show that most positive effects of V. caven are geographically found in dissimilar areas: the central part of Chile (western range) and across the Paraná River (eastern range). When local fine‐scale predictors (i.e. annual herbs' cover and height, and herbivores' faeces cover) were used to model each response variable at the plot level (underneath or outside V. caven), we observed similar trends as when we considered only the large‐scale predictors. Synthesis. Here, we show that the effect of the same nurse species on neighbouring plant communities can be very different depending on ranges of distribution, stressing that its ecological function cannot be generalized and not only depends on local factors but also is large‐scale context‐dependent.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Large‐scale facilitative effects for a single nurse shrub: Impact of the rainfall gradient, plant community and distribution across a geographical barrier

Velasco,

Soto‐Agurto,

Carbone

et al. 2024

Journal of Ecology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Open ecosystems such as grassland types, young plantations, and the park forests share the native species pool of old grasslands. The presence of native trees in these open forests enhances overall species abundance beneath the trees supporting multi‐taxon diversity (Bernardi et al, 2016; Pozo & Säumel, 2018, 2022).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the transition from the forest edge to the open grassland, numerous factors (e.g., elevation, soil, tree density, flooding frequency, or climate) determine the grassland community structure (Bernardi et al, 2016). In contrast to crops, native forests and timber plantations function as barriers within the landscape and disrupt important ecosystem processes such as seed dispersal and pollination, for example, by wind in an originally almost forestless landscape (Ramírez & Säumel, 2022b; Ramos et al, 2020), while the park forests as a transition zone between native riparian forests and open grasslands can support zoochory (Manning et al, 2006; Pozo & Säumel, 2022).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A step to disentangle diversity patterns in Uruguayan grasslands: Climatic seasonality, novel land‐uses, and landscape context drive diversity of ground flora

Säumel

Ramírez

Santolin

et al. 2023

Conservat Sci and Prac

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

South American grasslands contain extraordinary biodiversity and play a central role in the subsistence of regional agroecosystems. In recent decades, afforestation, followed by the soybean planting boom, have led to drastic land‐use changes at the expense of grasslands. Impacts on local biodiversity have remained understudied. We explored the taxonomic richness and ß‐diversity of plants of ground layer (excluding trees and shrubs) at different land uses, its interplay at regional scale with environmental heterogeneity, and at local scale with novel land cover types and landscape configurations. We conducted correlation, principal component, NDMS, and SDR analysis to explore variation of taxonomic richness, richness difference, replacement, and similarity of ground flora as response to environmental filters and land use change across Uruguay. We surveyed 160 plots distributed in 10 land cover types, that is, closed and open native forests, different grasslands, crops, orchards, and timber plantations. We observed overlaying regional patterns driven by seasonality of temperature and precipitation, and land cover shaping taxonomic richness at local scale. Landscape configuration affects diversity patterns of native ground flora, which seems to be sustained mainly by the “old growth grassland” species pool. Taxonomic richness of native species decreases with an increase of distance to grassland. Crops and grasslands harbor a higher number of native species in the ground flora than native forests and timber plantations. The introduction of exotics is driven mostly by crops or highly modified pastures. Diversity patterns only partially reflect the ecoregion concept. Expanding the perspective from conservation in purely natural ecosystems to measures conserving species richness in human‐modified landscapes is a powerful tool against species loss in the Anthropocene.

show abstract

Cattle and nurse trees shape subtropical forest–grassland ecotones

Holmgren,

Bargeman,

Bernardi

et al. 2024

Journal of Applied Ecology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

South American subtropical landscapes are dominated by open grasslands and mosaics of forest–grassland formations. Forests are often restricted to riverine margins with sharp forest–grassland ecotones. Understanding the mechanisms maintaining forest–grassland ecotones is important to anticipate the effects of changing climate and disturbance regimes on the extent of these biomes and the ecosystem services they provide. We used a combination of field surveys and long‐term field experiments to explore the mechanisms that explain tree cover expansion at the ecotone of riverine forests and grasslands in central Uruguay, within the South American Campos. We assessed the role of tree seed dispersal and seedling establishment limitations, and experimentally tested for the effects of cattle, nurse tree cover and grasses on the recruitment of forest and grassland tree species at the forest–grassland ecotone. We found that forest expansion depends on the interplay between cattle and nurse trees. Vachellia caven trees colonize the grassland successfully and facilitate the formation of forest patches by enhancing seed accumulation and seedling establishment of forest tree species. Surprisingly, grass cover had mostly positive effects on early seedling survival of forest tree seedlings. However, cattle limits tree seedling growth and survival, especially of forest tree species. This results in a nucleated vegetation pattern of tree patches that ultimately limits forest expansion. Synthesis and applications. Tree cover can potentially expand on the subtropical South American grasslands. Reductions in cattle densities and increases in rainfall levels associated with climate change could facilitate forest expansion in this region.

show abstract

Nurse species facilitate persistence of dry forests in agricultural landscapes in Uruguay

Cited by 4 publications

References 119 publications

Large‐scale facilitative effects for a single nurse shrub: Impact of the rainfall gradient, plant community and distribution across a geographical barrier

Large‐scale facilitative effects for a single nurse shrub: Impact of the rainfall gradient, plant community and distribution across a geographical barrier

A step to disentangle diversity patterns in Uruguayan grasslands: Climatic seasonality, novel land‐uses, and landscape context drive diversity of ground flora

Cattle and nurse trees shape subtropical forest–grassland ecotones

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About